July 2016

One sniff of the Michael David Petite Petit 2014 tells you that it could only have been made in California. Well, O.K., perhaps in South Australia. Anyway, it’s a wine that brims with the sort of full-bore, pedal to the metal, motorcycle boots in hot tar, dark, feral plummy-jamminess that you could even narrow the scope down from generally California to specifically Lodi. Right now, My Readers are thinking, “Whoa, F.K., this is exactly the sort of wine that you deplore!” It’s true, mes amis, that I prefer wines that balance elegance and power, that reveal themselves through hints, nods and nuances, but when you’re sitting down to a trencher of chili or a platter of barbecue ribs, you can toss subtlety out the window. It’s a clever concept, though I don’t know if the name or the concept came first. A unique blend of 85 percent petite sirah and 15 percent petit verdot, the Michael David Petite Petit 2014 offers an opaque yet radiant ebony hue shading to thermonuclear purple at the rim; aromas of supernaturally-ripe blackberries and blueberries unfurl an intense core of lavender and violets, leather and loam, all bolstered by a tremendous dusty graphite element, and all factors replicated on the palate, where the wine is, not surprisingly, defined by dense, dusty, chewy tannins, incisive acidity and slash ‘n’ burn granitic minerality. For all that, the wine is lively, engaging and — paradoxically — rather light-hearted. It is certainly drenched in juicy, spicy black and blue fruit flavors. Also unexpectedly, the alcohol content is only 14.5 percent, I say “only” as compared to the 15 percent and higher commonly seen in red wines from Lodi. Drink now through 2018, maybe ’19, though freshness and immediacy are essential to this wine’s enjoyment. Excellent. About $18.

By “sweethearts,” I don’t mean sweet wines but wines that are so pleasing and engaging that they seem as irresistible and buoyant as a pair of young lovers, hand in hand, lightly treading the dewy grass on a bonny morning. This pair of wines, from the Anjou area of France’s vast Loire Valley region, is new to America and originates in a family-owned concern that dates to 1790. Chateau de la Mulonnière is a project of the Saget La Perrière family that owns 890 acres in the Loire Valley spread over six estates. Anjou lies southeast of the city of Angers, a beautiful town with a magnificent castle and a medieval quarter that features an array of half-timbered buildings. Vineyard cultivation and winemaking in Anjou go back to the 11th Century and except for the interregnums of war, plague and the phylloxera, have been pretty much unabated for a thousand years.

Pasternak Wine Imports, Harrison, N.Y. Samples for review.
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The M de Mulonnière Rosé 2015, Rosé d’Anjou, is a blend of 40 percent cabernet franc, 30 percent grolleau, 20 cabernet sauvignon and 10 gamay. It offers a bright medium copper-salmon hue — it’s not nearly as pale as its counterparts in Provence and the southern Rhône Valley tend to be — and strikingly pungent and pure aromas of strawberries and raspberries, lime leaf and tomato skin, red currants and, faintly, pomegranate. The wine is quite dry, but juicy with ripe red berry flavors flushed with orange rind, flowing on a silky texture over the palate. A firm line of limestone minerality and bright acidity contributes a welcome element of spareness to a fairly ripe and fleshy rosé. Quite delightful. 12 percent alcohol. Very Good+. About $15.
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The M de Mulonnière Chenin Blanc 2015, Anjou, is 100 percent varietal. The color is pale gold, lent a shimmer by a delicate pétillant quality; the nose on this wine is eminently attractive, composed of seamless notes of hay and spiced pear, yellow plums, lilac, heather and bay leaf, with a background of gunflint and graphite, all bound and permeated by a golden, slightly honeyed character. Not to imply anything sweet; the wine is seriously dry but presents a round, ripe and supple nature — all yellow fruit and meadow flowers — that slides with pure pleasure across the tongue. 12.5 percent alcohol. We drank this with swordfish — marinated in lemon juice, olive oil, soy sauce and rubbed with minced garlic and ginger, seared in the cast-iron skillet– but it would be equally appropriate matched with seafood risottos, trout amandine, quenelles of pike or grilled shrimp. Excellent. About $15, representing Great Value.
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Here’s a totally refreshing rosé wine made in the classic fashion of the South of France. The Ferraton Père et Fils Samorëns Côtes du Rhône Rosé 2015 consists of 75 percent grenache grapes with the balance made up by syrah and cinsault. The color is a pale salmon-peach hue, a shade darker than onion skin, and the aromas of strawberries, red currants and peaches are as delicate as a ballerina’s wave goodbye; the wine admits hints of lemon zest and orange rind, as well as notes of cloves and dried thyme. On the palate, it flows with lovely, lithe tone and texture, propelled by pert acidity and a crystalline limestone element, and while being quite dry, the ephemeral, slightly spicy red fruit flavors are juicy and delicious. The estate, founded in 1946, was acquired by Michel Chapoutier in 2004. In 2013 the winery and cellars were updated with new equipment and fermentation tanks appropriately sized to their vineyard parcels. Partner growers farm using sustainable techniques while the estate vineyards and parcels under long term lease are managed by the winery using biodynamic methods. And that’s probably more than you need or want to know, but there it is anyway, because I’m interested. Drink this charming rosé through 2017 with typical picnic fare — fried chicken, cucumber or shrimp salad sandwiches, rabbit terrine, the kind of stuff you always pack in your picnic baskets — or as a very appealing aperitif. Very Good+. About $14, representing Excellent Value.

Made in stainless steel drums and tanks, fermented with natural yeast, the Priest Ranch Grenache Blanc 2015, Napa Valley, allows the eloquence of the grape to express itself with clarity and elegance. The color is very light gold, almost colorless, but displaying an elusive shimmer of pale green; aromas of dusty lilac, pear and apricot are highlighted by notes of dried thyme and sage, heather and meadow flowers, while a few minutes in the glass bring in hints of woodsy spice and acacia. The wine is quite dry but juicy with ripe citrus and stone-fruit flavors and enhanced by incisive acidity and scintillating limestone and flint-like minerality. Though it flows with surprising density on the palate, it remains lithe and lively and vibrant. 14.8 percent alcohol. Winemaker was Craig Becker. The wine is perfectly suited for drinking with grilled fish, seafood risottos, shrimp salad and the like, through 2018. Production was 1,643 cases. Excellent. About $22.

Posted by Fredric Koeppel under GreeceComments Off on Wine of the Day, No. 162

Let’s don our Seven-League Boots today and travel to Macedonia, the northern part of Greece, to taste a wine made in the Florina region, an official “Protected Geographical indication.” I’m speaking metaphorically, of course. I’m actually sitting right here at my desk in the United States of America typing away as usual, but a few sips of the Alpha Estate Turtles Vineyard Malagouzia 2015 serve to transport me and my imagination to the Mediterranean basin and Macedonia’s diverse landscape. The vineyards of Alpha Estate cover about 33 hectares — slightly more than 80 acres — at elevations varying from 1,900 to 2,100 feet above sea-level. Winemaker is Angelos Iatridis. The Alpha Estate Turtles Vineyard Malagouzia 2015 is 100 percent varietal, made completely in stainless steel tanks with two months resting on the lees with regular stirring. The result is a very pale gold-colored wine that offers immense freshness and immediate appeal. It’s a wine of meadow flowers and grass, hay and heather, much resembling sauvignon blanc in some ways but displaying a wild, saline edge that bolsters notes of peach and pear, touches of fig, fennel and celery leaf (with very little of sauvignon blanc’s citrus quality). The wine is quite dry, animated by bracing acidity and an element of scintillating limestone minerality. 12.5 percent alcohol. Drink now through 2018 or ’19. We had a few glasses of the Alpha Estate Turtles Vineyard Malagouzia 2015 with seared salmon but I think it would reach apotheosis with fresh oysters, grilled shrimp, ceviche and sushi. Excellent. About $18 and Worth a Search.

Unlike designations for, say, Sonoma County or Mendocino County, the Napa County indication on a wine label is rare. That’s because the world-famous Napa Valley AVA and its sub-AVAs occupy most of Napa County, from top to bottom and side to side, except for Lake Berryessa and an area in the northeast, beyond the Chiles Valley sub-AVA. So the designation on the Sterling Vineyards Sauvignon Blanc 2014, Napa County, probably involves a cross-county origin for the grapes, with Napa County providing the preponderance. This is a sauvignon blanc that offers terrific character and personality for the price. The color is very pale gold; aromas of tangerine, lime peel and pink grapefruit are permeated by notes of grass, hay and heather, wrapped in an intensity of talc, graphite and gunflint. Give this a few minutes, and it unfurls hints of pea-shoot and caraway, fig and sun-warmed leaves. A nicely powdery texture bathes the palate, as well as juicy citrus and stone-fruit flavors, but riveting acidity brings liveliness and crispness, while the finish dredges from a deep grounding in limestone minerality. 13.5 percent alcohol. Now through 2017 as a pert and sassy aperitif or with grilled fish or seafood, chicken salad or shrimp salad. Excellent. About $18.

Here’s a white wine, made from verdicchio grapes, that would be terrific with fritto misto di mare, the Italian dish, usually an appetizer, of mixed fried fish and seafood. The Garofoli Macrina 2015, from the seacoast Marche region, carries a long designation: Verdicchio dei Castelli di Jesi Classico Superiore. The estate is operated by the family’s fifth generation. Made all in stainless steel to ensure a sense of freshness and immediacy, the wine offers a pale straw color and appealing aromas of roasted lemon and lemon drop, thyme and heather and a pleasantly dusty flinty aura in the nose and on the palate, where it’s saline and savory, lively and engaging. A few moments in the glass unfold hints of leafy fig and pear elements. The wine is quite dry, spare, lithe and highly quaffable. 13.5 percent alcohol. Drink through 2017 into 2018. Very Good+. About $14, marking Real Value.

Now that the maniacal devotion to Beaujolais nouveau seems to be diminishing, people who love Beaujolais can order and drink the real stuff without feeling abashed. The region, south of Mâconnais in central-eastern France — there’s actually a continuous narrow geographic and vinous entity that extends from Burgundy south through the Côte Chalonnaise, Mâconnais and Beaujolais — produces wine in three qualitative categories: basic Beaujolais (the grapes generally comes from the south or Bas Beaujolais); Beaujolais-Villages (the grapes are a blend derived from slopes in the northern area of Beaujolais); and Cru Beaujolais (which comes from vineyards in one of 10 villages in the north that have their own AOC status and display the name of the village on the label). A tiny amount of Beaujolais blanc is made from chardonnay grapes, but the rest of these are red wines made from the gamay grape, or as it is formally known gamay noir à jus blanc. Our wine today is the Louis Jadot Beaujolais-Villages 2014, a wine that includes dollops of juice from Cru vineyards. The color is dark ruby shading to a lighter violet rim; aromas of freshly-picked black cherries, raspberries and plums convey a pleasing freight of woody spices and a dusting of sage and thyme. This is a dry wine, almost succulent in its black and red fruit flavors but checked by bright acidity and a hint of lean, graphite-infused tannins. As moments pass, the wine expands its offering of floral elements in rose petals and lilac. 12.5 percent alcohol. A truly charming wine with intriguing dark edges and corners. I drank a glass or two of this wine last night as accompaniment to a summery pasta with an uncooked sauce of fresh tomatoes, endive, garlic and basil, marinated in olive oil, red wine vinegar and red pepper flakes. Now through 2017 into 2018. Excellent. About $14, a Distinct Value.

Imported by Kobrand Wine and Spirits, Purchase, N.Y. A sample for review.

I write so much about cabernet sauvignon wines from Napa Valley — collectively they form a sort of irrevocable juggernaut — that I thought it might be appropriate to touch on a cabernet from a different area in California. The Broadside Cabernet Sauvignon 2014, Paso Robles, derives from two sub-AVAs in that Central Coast region, Santa Margarita Ranch and Estrella District. The wine matures for 14 months in neutral French and American oak barrels; winemaker Brian Terrizzi generally eschews the use of new oak. The color is dark ruby-purple with a vivid magenta rim; it’s a real “plums and roses” cabernet, bursting with ripe, fleshy red and blue fruit scents and flavors with after-thoughts of rose petals, lavender and graphite. Ripe and fleshy yes, even spiced and macerated, but not blowsy or bosomy, because the wine maintains a steady ferrous line of vibrant acidity and dusty tannins for structure. A few moments in the glass bring out notes of sage and boxwood, cranberry and blueberry, briers and brambles, and the fruit and mineral drenched finish features a core of espresso and mocha. The alcohol content is a sensible 13.5 percent. Drink now through 2018 to 2020 with burgers, steaks, braised short-ribs and other hearty food of that ilk. Very Good+. About $18, representing Real Value.